Man in the Shadows
by Captain James Hook
Summary: Moriarty and Sebastian have decided to put their new sniper to the test.
1. One Down

It was black, pitch black accept for the odd flickering of lights every now and then.

Two men, one short the other tall walked down the backstreet that they had walked down many times before.

The shorter man turned to his tall companion and nodded sharply. The taller of the two suddenly slipped down another side alley, the shorter one remained still and scanned the area.

Suddenly voices filled the area and the shorter man took a step back into the shadows.

"Why do we always have to take short cuts like this Rach, its scary" a female voice rang out.

"Because it's quicker" the girl named Rachel replied sharply.

"One day we will get raped or mugged and I will blame you completely" the girl that had first spoke groaned.

There was silence for a few seconds, all of a sudden the shorter man walked out of the darkness and into the light.

He tilted his head to the side where the voices had been heard.

"Perfect timing, as always" the man said in a bitter sweet voice as he tapped the watch on his wrist.

The two girls had stopped walking and were staring at the man.

"Hannah, isn't it?" he didn't so much as ask, more of stated.

"How do you know my name?" Hannah replied.

The man's mouth curled into a smirk, it was almost a laugh.

"Don't be confused, dear Hannah" the man replied mockingly.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Hannah shouted out of nerves.

"Jim Moriarty... hi" he answered not a trace of kindness in his voice.

"You didn't answer my question, what do you want?" Hannah asked nervously, as she watched the man walk a step closer to them.

His eyes darted between the two of them but lingered on Rachel a fraction longer.

Moriarty laughed.

"It's not so much what_ I_ want. More of what someone _else_ wants" he said reverting back to a high pitch voice.

"You don't make any sense" Hannah snapped half angry and confused, half petrified.

"How old are you both?" Moriarty asked his smirk now returning.

Hannah hesitated, as if considering lying but she thought there was no point.

"I'm 16" she replied quickly, as if embarrassed by age.

Moriarty laughed,

"Is that all...is that all" he said between laughs "And what about you...Rachel, how old are you?"

"I'm 19" she answered bluntly.

"Interesting, interesting" Moriarty said putting his hands behind his back and biting his lip which was still plastered into a smile.

Hannah took a step backwards.

"No, no" Moriarty said suddenly "Don't move away, move closer"

Hannah inhaled sharply.

"Come on now, don't be scared. Daddy won't bite" Moriarty grinned taking a step forward.

"Just tell me why you're here" Hannah said shakily.

"I'm here because someone doesn't want your little heart to carry on beating" Moriarty replied his face the picture of innocence.

Hannah's mouth opened slightly and her breathing was now more uneven than before.

She reached an arm out to Rachel as if to use her as a shield.

Rachel didn't protest.

"It's no good trying to hide Hannah, because I will _always_ find you" Moriarty smirked.

His facial expression was a mask of pure delight. It was clear he was enjoying every second of torment.

"Why would someone want her dead?" Rachel asked her voice not a trace of nervousness in her voice.

Moriarty clicked his tongue as if thinking for a suitable response.

"What does your mummy and daddy do for a living... Hannah?" he mocked, the tone of his voice still contained the irritating sense of enjoyment.

"My mum is a shop assistant and my dad is a sales director" she replied, her voice now broken and Rachel could feel her hand shaking on her arm as she still carried on trying to hide from Moriarty.

"Oh, now, I don't think that's quite true" Moriarty said rocking backwards and forwards on the heels of his gleaming Gucci shoes.

"Stop playing games with me and just tell me what's going on" Hannah tried to sound angry in an attempt to sound like a threat but she failed completely.

"Being angry doesn't help" Moriarty said blankly taking another step towards the two girls.

"Just tell her" Rachel sighed.

"Your dad isn't a sales director. He's a delinquent" Moriarty said sharply, his voice had changed, it was deeper, harsher. His eyebrows were knitted into a frown and his lips were pressed so tightly together they were hardly visible.

"A... a what?" Hannah stuttered, clearly scared of asking what the word meant as it was clear that the man had little, if any patience and was in no mood for talking.

"IT MEANS" he shouted, "he owes money... he's been a bad boy" his smirk now reappearing.

Hannah didn't reply, she didn't even make a sound.

"What's that got to with me?" Hannah asked.

"Well, my dear...if he can't pay we take the only thing priceless to him that we can take and that would be your life" his grin was now nearly to his ears.

Hannah was shaking so badly now that she was close to collapsing.

"So, are we ready to die, anything you want to say, any final words?" Moriarty mocked.

Hannah didn't do anything just stood staring at him.

"Rachel, any final words for your... friend?" Moriarty asked, one of his eyebrows rose.

Rachel sighed and turned towards Hannah.

"She isn't my friend "Rachel replied blankly.

Hannah frowned up at who she thought was her friend; she let her hand slip down to her side.

"I don't understand..." Hannah stuttered.

"What is there to understand. I am not your friend" Rachel snapped.

"Yes we are, you-"

"Guess what. I lied" Rachel said bluntly.

Hannah lost control of her emotions and tried making a run for it.

Moriarty clicked his fingers and a red dot appeared on the side of Hannah's head, she stopped running to see where the light was coming from, but before she could so much as turn her head a shot was fired and aimed perfectly.

Rachel watched as she collapsed to the floor, she heard laughter and turned her head to Moriarty who was grinning at her.

"I love this. Playing all these games" Moriarty said walking slowly over to Rachel who was watching him carefully.

"I know you do, I'm in most of them" Rachel replied, a smile appearing on her face.

"And you love it" Moriarty grinned stopping a few inches away from her.

Someone appeared behind Moriarty.

"Beautiful shot Seb" Rachel smirked at the man who had just joined.

"I know, almost as beautiful as your lovely acting skills" he laughed slightly appearing by Moriarty's side.

Moriarty stuck an arm out and hit Sebastian in the stomach.

"Stop flirting. It's annoying me" Moriarty said sternly.

"I wasn't flirting boss, I just-"

He got cut sort as Moriarty interrupted,

"If you argue with me there will be more than one murder tonight"

Sebastian knew him well enough to know when he was pushing him too far.

"Now let's go"

Sebastian nodded and started walked away.

Rachel remained where she was

"I said let's go" Moriarty said his voice now sharper and his patience was wearing incredibly thin.

Rachel sighed and walked after him.

The three walked away in silence.


	2. Playing with Guns

It was 3:12am precisely. Jim Moriarty was currently in his flat which was at the very top of this particular building; of course he had many flats and houses for his own safety. He wasn't going to get caught that easily. Even if he didn't have the extra houses and flats his two trustworthy companions, Sebastian and Rachel, would always offer him their accommodation if necessary.

Although he hardly knew Rachel at all compared to Sebastian he was convinced she was not a threat and would be an asset to him.

There was suddenly a small thud from outside, coming from the direction from where his balcony was.

He put the small glass of red wine down on the small varnished coffee table. There was another thud, he froze. He was surprised anyone could get onto the balcony as it was so high up.

He turned around slowly. His curtains were drawn so he couldn't see who it was; he reached for his gun which lay next to him on the sofa. He always kept it reasonably close to him as so many people would love to see the end of him.

He stood up and aimed for the balcony.

He could hear someone fiddling with the lock and then suddenly nothing.

His arm was still outstretched ready to shoot, but nothing.

Then was a little tapping at the balcony door,

"Boss, whatever you do, don't shoot me" a hushed voice murmured through the door.

He lowered his gun a tiny bit, although he recognised the voice, it could be a trick.

The curtain was suddenly pushed back.

Rachel was stood there with a knife splattered in blood which she was holding limply in her right hand. To say she looked mess was an understatement.

Moriarty eyed her curiously, his gun now at his side.

"Right, I probably should explain" Rachel half smiled.

Moriarty scanned her; he could see that her black t- shirt was covered in blood as were her trousers and boots.

"Well, I heard a rumour that someone was going to try and kill you at some point tonight and me being the lovely person I am decided to check on you to see if you were being followed and you weren't, but I decided to monitor your flat to double check and then these two men that I vaguely remember, because you've spoken about them before were outside the building carrying guns so I waited till they split up, killed the one that was on the ground on lookout first then took out the other guy just now, I was just in time" she explained with a satisfied pant.

Moriarty blinked rapidly, this was the first time Rachel had done something like this, on her own since the first time they met 7 months ago.

"It's alright you don't have to thank me" Rachel sighed sarcastically making her way over to the sofa.

"Oh, I don't think so" Moriarty snarled blocking her way.

"I just saved your life, yet you won't let me sit down" Rachel gawped.

"Have you seen yourself" Moriarty stated simply looking at all the blood plastered over her.

Rachel looked down sheepishly,

"Oh fine, I'll stand then" she muttered.

"Don't take that tone with me, I'm still the one with the gun remember" Moriarty snapped suddenly.

Rachel didn't even look surprised at the sudden change in tone; she was used to it by now.

"I still have a knife" she said waving it in front of his face "And a gun" she said patting her jacket.

Moriarty raised an eyebrow,

"Yano, you shouldn't speak to me like that. Not only am I your boss, I'm also a heartless killer who is willing to kill anyone, even you" he smirked nastily, now aiming the gun at Rachel.

Rachel titled her head sideways and gave a small laugh.

"What are you laughing for" he snapped angrily, waving the gun around in his hand.

"Just you" Rachel half smiled as she tossed the bloody knife onto his table.

"Stop making a mess" Moriarty growled under his breath.

Rachel had forgotten for a second how much he cherished his designer labels and the table was no doubt, highly expensive

"Sorry" Rachel said picking the knife back up again and going over to the kitchen sink where she shoved the knife under the tap.

Moriarty watched her carefully.

No one had ever dared talk to him the way she had just done, accept Sebastian.

"Ah, shit" she muttered.

He watched as she waved her finger up and down in pain.

"What have you done?" he asked, not one ounce of concern in his voice, just annoyance.

"Cut my finger with the bloody knife" she replied with a mutter.

Moriarty rolled his eyes and tossed the gun onto the sofa.

"I wonder how you manage to tie your own laces let alone kill somebody" Moriarty snapped.

Rachel ignored him and carried on aiding her finger by placing it under the tap.

Suddenly the tune 'Staying Alive' was heard.

Moriarty let out a heavy sigh reached into his inside pocket of his suit and answered his phone.

"Hello" he spat angrily.

Rachel couldn't help but be amazed at how childish he was sometimes.

"I told you, I've told you many times before I don't do the dirty work. I'm the watcher, not the worker" he yelled.

Rachel stared at him and cocked an eyebrow; he was always so cross at everything and everyone.

"If you're lying to me, I swear you will be my newest pair of shoes" Moriarty yelled again and then shoved his phone roughly back into his pocket.

"We're going out" Moriarty snapped flashing an angry glare towards Rachel.

"Funny, I don't remember you asking" Rachel said flatly.

"Do I look in the mood to play games with you?" Moriarty shrieked.

"I thought you were always in the mood to play games" Rachel answered innocently.

Moriarty glared at her. He wondered if she was deliberately crossing the line to annoy him or if she was doing it by accident, either way he wasn't standing for it.

He picked up the gun that he had earlier chucked onto the sofa.

He stalked over to Rachel his eyes wide with anger. He shoved the guy into her stomach.

"Listen to me" he whispered into her ear "If you argue with me like that again, I will do something that will shock you so much your heart might not be able to cope" he jabbed the gun to wear her heart was then took a step away from her and flashed his insane smile at her.

Rachel for the first time in a long while, felt scared of him. He had only ever whispered something in her ear once before and that wasn't a good sign.

She just blinked at him.

"You can't go out like that...oh no" he said softly.

"I don't have any other clothes" she said confused.

"Don't you?" Moriarty said in reverting back to his childlike voice "Through that door, change. Now"

Rachel looked to the direction he was pointing in.

"Unbelievable" she whispered under her breath so that Moriarty wouldn't hear.

She walked into the room and saw a neat pile of clothes on the bed with a black pair of heels resting on top of the small pile.

She couldn't help but be slightly amused by the whole situation, but then a thought struck her mind, how had he known to leave a full set of ladies clothes out in her size. She put the thought to the back of her mind as she removed the shoes from the top of the pile to see what exactly she was supposed to be wearing.

She let out a disapproving sigh as she found a black knee length Westwood skirt and white blouse. He knew that she detested wearing skirts especially when she was on a job.

Suddenly the door opened,

"Are you not dressed yet?"

Rachel span round and saw Moriarty and Sebastian standing at the doorway with their arms crossed.

"I could have been half way through getting changed!" Rachel shouted angrily.

"Shame" Sebastian muttered under his breath.

"Get out!" Rachel shrieked.

"What have I told you about taking that tone with me" Moriarty shouted backed twice as angry.

"Why have you left me this anyway? How am I supposed to work in this" Rachel said grabbing the skirt from the bed and waving it in their direction.

"You will wear it and be QUICK" Moriarty yelled as he slammed the door leaving Rachel on her own.

After several minutes Rachel returned to the living room where Sebastian and Moriarty were arguing.

"This is the fourth time this week, you can't keep calling me out like this" Sebastian said waving his hands around in frustration.

Sebastian was probably the only person alive who could get away with shouting at Moriarty the way he did.

"It is your job Seb, you took it, and you knew the risks and the situation so don't moan" Moriarty snapped back shoving a gun into Sebastian's arm.

Sebastian's eyes averted to Rachel,

"Bout time" he growled under his breath

Rachel couldn't help but feel greatly outnumbered sometimes.

"Where are we headed?" she asked curiously.

"56, Milbank Road" Sebastian replied automatically.


End file.
